Salman Butt to attend hearing in London

Updated: 01 March 2011 12:57 IST

Tainted former test captain Salman Butt said he would be attending the hearing of the criminal charges brought against him and his two Pakistani teammates, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir in London on March 17.

Written by Press Trust of India

Read Time: 2 mins

Tainted former test captain Salman Butt said he would be attending the hearing of the criminal charges brought against him and his two Pakistani teammates, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir in London on March 17.

Butt said in a statement that it was his intention to attend the hearing at the city of Westminster Magistrates court on March 17th.

"My lawyer, Yasin Patel has advised me at this stage to make no further comments on the case due to the pending proceedings," Butt said in the statement.

The Scotland Yard and Crown prosecution office of the United Kingdom have charged the three banned Pakistani players of accepting bribes and trying to defraud after an initial inquiry that has lasted for some five months by the Scotland Yard.

Butt also made it clear that he had exercised his right to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), with regards to the ten year ban (5 years suspended) handed to him by an ICC anti-corruption tribunal committee.

Butt was suspended for 10-years by the ICC tribunal on February 5 after being found guilty of spot-fixing stemming from the Lord's Test against England last year.

In his statement issued through his lawyer, Yasin Patel who is based in London, Butt said that his legal team served a statement of appeal upon The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to appeal against the Tribunal's findings in relation to the Lords Test and the sanctions imposed at the recent hearing in Doha.

Full Grounds for the Appeal will be lodged in due course.

"Due to the pending proceedings in the UK, my Barrister, Yasin Patel has advised me against saying anything further at this stage in relation to the appeal," he added.

Sources said that Asif and Amir had also made up their mind to attend the March 17 magisterial hearing as they had no other option available to them.

Asif and Amir, who are serving bans of seven and five years respectively, have lodged appeals with the CAS last week against their bans.